I Can't Promise You
by LilaKiwi
Summary: In a war-torn world, Dan and Phil have nothing left but each other. No home, nowhere to go, no friends or family left. When someone offers to help, they find out there is more to her than they thought. Chapters will probably be short, but I'll try to upload a few at a time. Also I suck at summaries. Sorry!
1. Chapter 1

Amaris

Bombs rain down around me, and the building shakes as families huddle together, knowing that at any moment, they could be violently torn apart. People's screams, children's cries, all is magnified as the sound reverberated against the metal enclosing us, but even that was drowned out by the bombs. One hit. One. That was all it would take, and everyone would be dead.

My sister Lili nestles against me. She is all I have left; our parents are surely gone. We ran from them, so we will never know. Lili must be thinking something similar, I can see the sadness in her eyes. Guilt, even. We didn't save our parents, our own family.

It's too much. She is too young for this, only 10 years old, but time and tragedy have forced her to grow up too fast. Silently, I start to cry. I don't know how long I remain like this, but through that time I stay still, crying into my hands until a soft touch brings me back to the real world.

"Amy, it's stopped," a little voice whispers into my ear. I raise my head. Everyone is still, silent, listening. There are no bombs to be heard. Gradually, a soft muttering begins, starting as a few voices, but getting louder and louder more people try to get a word in edgeways. They want to know if it's safe to leave. In here, we are safer. A direct hit would kill us all, and we are only sheltered from debris. But we've been here too long and many of us are hungry, myself included. I have food, a little, but it's not much and it needs to last.

I keep it in my first aid kit, along with a few knives. In hindsight, I have no idea why I brought the knives, only I wanted to feel like I could protect myself. They'll be no good to me.

The debate has become an argument, with everyone yelling to be heard. I can't stand it anymore. Whatever has happened outside, I need to see it. This place is making me claustrophobic, and if I don't get out, I know I'll freak out. And who knows what will happen then. Everyone will know.

I pick up the first aid kit, and slowly edge towards the door, telling Lili to stay safe in here.

Nothing could've prepared me for what I see now. Once great buildings now reduced to a pile of ash and rubble. There's an eerie silence, a gentle breeze is all I can hear. Oh God, this is worse than the bombs. I wander around the remains, going farther from the shelter than I intended to. I realise I have been gone too long: Lili will be worrying. And that's when I hear it. Another plane, another bomb.

I run.

I keep running. I don't know where I'm going, what I'm trying to do. There is nothing I can think of but my instinct to survive.

Only when the plane sounds quieter, far away enough that I am safe, I stop to rest, and thoughts flood back to my head. Lili! How could I forget her? What was I thinking? Evidently, I wasn't, because I would never leave her on purpose. I had been preoccupied with saving myself.

I see the plane hovering above the shelter, lower than the others were. It's aiming for the shelter, of course, and without a miracle, it will get a hit its target. I am frozen, too shocked, too terrified to move. Time slows almost to a stop as I watch the bomb fall, knowing what will happen. A direct hit.

My thoughts blur. Lili was in there. Lili is dead.

Fire lights up what remains of the shelter. It is only now I see the sun start to set in the distance, and I realise night will come soon. The fire looks brighter against a darker sky, and it terrifies me. I hate fire. Every instinct I have screams at me to run and, even though I want to run back to my sister, instinct wins.

I don't know where I'm going. I had a plan, a way for me to stay out of this, to use my natural advantages to survive. Maybe I can stick with that. It won't be forever. Wars don't last forever.

I can see two people in the distance, but I doubt they can see me. Few people can see in the dark as well as I can, and it really is dark now. I don't understand why they aren't running? The bombers will come back, I'm sure of it. They're not safe staying here.

I slow to a light jog, trying to see more detail. When I'm closer to them, I see that one of them is nearly lying down, blood spilling from his leg. His head is supported by the second person, crouching down beside him.

They hear my footsteps, and look at me. I know these people. I have seen them before, an eternity ago. It has only been two months, but memories of watching YouTube seem like another world. Seeing people from that time, in the war-torn place I know now, is bizarre, but I would recognise them anywhere.

Dan and Phil.


	2. Chapter 2 - Dan

Chapter 2- Dan

Phil always has a habit of being in the worst place at the worst time. In an apocalyptic world, he hasn't changed a bit. Only now, with no one to help us but each other, it threatens his life. When a bomb blast broke glass in a building near us, I easily avoided it, but Phil got glass embedded in his leg.

I'm trying to press my jacket against the wound, but the blood isn't stopping. I'm too afraid to remove the glass, because, even though I have no medical knowledge, I can guess that he'll just bleed more. There's nothing I can do. I kneel beside him, supporting his head, watching a crimson trail collect in a pool beside him.

Shit.

He's lost more blood than I thought. How long does he have? He's the only familiar face left. I don't want to be alone. I try to talk to him, but my voice cracks and won't let me speak above a whisper. I think he hears me anyway, because he looks straight at me. I wish he hadn't. The fear in his eyes stuns me to absolute silence, and I am powerless. I can't help him.

I hear footsteps. At least, I think I do. It's so dark, I can barely see anything. But I feel like I am being watched. There is someone there. The person realises they have been heard, and walks closer, letting her footsteps be louder.

A girl stands in front of me. I would say maybe in her late teenage years, even though she is quite short if so. But I am not interested in her. I am just interested in the first aid kit she has slung over her shoulder. I only care about the look she has in her eyes, as she assesses Phil's wound. She is studying it carefully. Maybe she knows what to do. Maybe she will help.

"Please," I croak. I am barely audible. I barely hear it myself, but she hears.

She looks at me. Her face is impassive, impossible to read. But she nods curtly, and kneels to help, opening her first aid kit.

She puts on some gloves, and cautiously removes the glass. I was right, he does bleed more. It's awful to watch. I look away, and desperately try to ignore the sounds of pain Phil makes. He's gritting his teeth, and trying his best to endure it, but obviously, he can't. I feel a tear roll down my cheek. It physically hurts, to listen to him like this.

I think she must have finally removed it, because Phil's quieter now, only letting an occasional sob escape him. I dare to look again, and I regret it. Blood spills everywhere, staining the ground a dark shade of red. Phil looks like he's made of porcelain, as he lies in too much pain to move, skin white from blood loss. I am worried he will shatter, splinter into a million irreparable pieces.

After what seems like eternity, his leg is bandaged. The girl, who we now know as Amaris, or Amy for short, did a pretty decent job. She explains that Phil will be weak for a while, unable to walk for extended periods of time, but he will heal with no permanent damage. With his arm around my shoulder, and my arm around his waist, he can stand, and, since we are all tired, we search for somewhere to sleep.

We soon find a shelter, a part of what was a building. There is no roof, like all the other ruins, but some of the walls have leaned inwards, forming a bit of a roof. It kind of works.

Amy claims she doesn't feel the cold, and sleeps in the less sheltered part of the place, where she is vulnerable to a biting wind. Despite the chill, she falls asleep quite quickly. Phil and I snuggle together, trying desperately to keep warm. We both have nightmares that night, about what we saw during the day. But, at least for the moment, we are not dead, and right now that's enough for me.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Phil

I wake to the sun glaring at me, and I need to squint to see. Even with my leg like it is, I could wriggle a bit to the right, and I'd be shaded. But that would wake Dan, who is right next to me. He spent most of the night having nightmares, but after what he's seen, who could blame him? I'm sure I had nightmares too.

The wind is much calmer than it was last night, but it is still freezing. If it wasn't so cold I'd just go back to sleep. I don't know how I even got to sleep last night at all.

Amy is gone. She must have left in the night, or earlier this morning. I'm kind of sad that I never got to thank her properly, but I was just too weak, and too tired. I wonder where she went. She could be anywhere.

I snuggle next to Dan, trying not to freeze to death, and I hear a slight cough. I turn to it, and see Amy coming back with two bottles of water. I didn't realise how thirsty I was, but I really am. She explains she woke up early and thought she may as well do something useful. There were two little bottles she'd put in her first aid kit, and she followed a stream back to clean water.

We wake Dan, and he helps me sit up. Then we take the water. It's the nicest water I've ever tasted, because I was so thirsty.

"Where are you going to go?" Amy asks, "You can't stay here."

There is silence. I have no idea. Nor, by the look on his face, does Dan.

"I don't know," Dan replies finally, "what about you?"

She smiles. "When I was little, I spent a lot of time camping, a lot of time out in the woods. I think I was more often outside than in the house, and I learnt a lot. I can hunt and forage, and my aim with a bow is impeccable. But I can't stay here. I'll leave, go back to the woodlands, find somewhere safer. It's hardly ideal, but there's nowhere else I can go."

It's a crazy idea. Even here is safer than in the middle of nowhere, with no food, no shelter. She must be mental.

But I really can't say we have plans that are any better.

Dan is deep in thought. I wanna ask him what he's thinking about, but at the same time I reckon I should just leave him to it.

Now that I feel more awake, I am aware of how much my leg hurts. I try to shift it a bit to see if it helps, but the pain makes me stop. I wince. Dan notices, and turns to me to check if I'm okay. Amy curses, and we turn to her.

"I know so many natural medicines that can help things like this, and the one time it might be useful, I'm in a city. Really?"

Her frustration is almost funny. It would be if I wasn't so distracted by my leg.

"Anything that would make it hurt less?" I ask.

She shakes her head, saying she should change the bandages, because the blood has soaked through. Dan helps, and it doesn't take long.

I'm already thirsty again. Amy agrees to get more water, but tells Dan and I to stay here. Well, it's warmer now. I'll probably sleep. But before I do, I need to ask Dan something.

"Where are we going to go?" I say.

"Where _can_ we go?" he replies, "We have no idea where our friends or our families are, or if they're…"

He looks down. I know what he's trying to say, but if he said it out loud it would be worse. No one wants to say fact that their family might be dead.

I don't want to think about it.


End file.
